Mary K. Muth, Ph.D.
Senior Research Economist, RTI International
Dominic Mancini, Ph.D.
Economist, Office of Management and Budget
Catherine Viator, M.S.
Associate Economist, RTI International
Food manufacturers routinely face decisions regarding the choice of ingredients and processes for producing foods. In the case of bioengineered foods, they must choose whether to produce foods not containing bioengineered ingredients and, in the near future, whether to produce foods containing ingredients enhanced through bioengineering. Food manufacturersÂ’ decisions regarding the use of bioengineered ingredients are influenced by the nature of the regulatory environment and both demand-side and supply-side considerations. This paper summarizes the current state of the domestic and foreign regulatory environments and results of interviews with food manufacturers about the demand-side and supply-side considerations affecting their decisions.
Key words: Bioengineered foods, consumer-level traits, food manufacturers, identity preservation, processing-level traits, regulation.